We are thrilled to unveil the 2021 International Performance Marketing Awards shortlist recognising the very best in performance marketing and celebrating innovation, creativity and success within the industry.
Click on the category below to reveal the shortlist of potential winners.
CHANNEL, CAMPAIGN & STRATEGY AWARDS
Best Affiliate Programme Launch or Relaunch
The Finalists Are:
- Admitad Affiliate & Acer Care: Affiliate Program Launch
- Awin-O, Let’s Go
- CJ & Dell: Migration Par Excellence
- DAZN & Partnerize: A Knockout Global Launch Strategy
- GrowthOps & Kérastase: A Unique Take From a Traditional Affiliate Programme
- Impact, Silverbean & John Lewis Partnership: Migratory Magic
- Optimus Performance Marketing & tails.com: Growing the Affiliate Channel in Europe
- Student Beans & Emma Sleep: Uncovering a Relevant Market
Best Brand Performance Campaign
The Finalists Are:
- Adequate & HealthLabs: From Zero to Superhero
- CJ, Giving Assistant and Barnes & Noble: “Black Voices”
- Assembly & La Mer: The Full Experience Through #EyesFeelBright
- Rakuten Advertising, 55Haitao & Clinique: Creating the Perfect Marriage Between Brand & Performance
- Rakuten Advertising & Backcountry: Identifying Incremental Revenue in Driving to YouTube
- The Home Depot & Contobox: Always-on Dynamic Prospecting
Best Direct to Consumer Campaign or Strategy
The Finalists Are:
- Adequate & HealthLabs: From Zero to Superhero
- Disney+: Performance Marketing Campaign the Falcon and the Winter Soldier
- Rakuten Advertising & Giftcards.com: Creating a New Strategy for Google’s New Customer Acquisition Feature
Best Incentive Partner Campaign or Strategy
The Finalists Are:
- Rakuten Advertising, Qantas Shopping, ECHT & Endota Spa: Taking CLO to the Next Level with CLO+
- Rue Gilt Groupe & Partnerize: Incentives Equals Partnership Success
Best Influencer Marketing Campaign
The Finalists Are:
- Assembly, Frontgate & LTK: Celebrating Interior Products With Influencers During the Holidays
- Impact & Mapiful: Building on the Bond of Emotion
- MediaMonks & L’ORÉAL Paris: #WonderWaterWhip Influencer Campaign
- Partnerize, Dept Agency & Paula’s Choice: A Beautiful Balance for Influencer Inclusion in Affiliate
- VizSense & Hornitos Tequila: A Shot Worth Taking Ohio Campaign
- Zorka.Agency: YouTube Progress Bar for a Mobile Game Promotion
Best Integrated Performance Marketing Campaign
The Finalists Are:
- Adequate & HealthLabs: From Zero to Superhero
- HABITANT & Somos Sapiens: Virgin Telco Spanish Launch
- Rakuten Advertising & Aje: Athletica Launched With HYPE Lifecycle Strategy
- Rakuten Advertising & mac of all trades: Drives Performance With Cross-Channel Program Using Publisher, RetailMeNot
Best Paid Search Campaign
The Finalists Are:
- iQuanti, Inc
- Rakuten Advertising & Backcountry: Breaking Zombie SKUs Into a New Smart Shopping Campaign
Best Paid Social Campaign
The Finalists Are:
- Adequate & HealthLabs: From Zero to Superhero
- Awin, Etsy & TikTok: Giving Mother’s Day Sales a Boost
Best Partnership

Founded in 2008, advanced store brings CPA-based Performance Display & Retargeting Advertising solutions to market. We help over 600 advertisers, global brands and thousands of publishers worldwide in distributing and using their media budgets efficiently by creatively achieving their individual campaign goals. As a company with its own EU-funded technology advanced store is dedicated to fully automate Online Marketing solutions in the future. That’s why the team of 42 experts develops their own AI-driven media technology connecting multiple DSPs & SSPs for complete reach and a data-based user approach.
Built upon nearly two decades of experience, the company’s diverse suite of products generates over 100 million ad impressions per day across finance, telecommunication, retail & shopping, travel, energy and other verticals. To quote the CEO Marc Majewski, advanced store is poised to challenge the way Affiliate Marketing is done to exploit its full potential by following new strategies and ideas.
The Finalists Are:
- Artefact Germany GmbH & Ingenious Technologies AG: Combining Data Use and Personal Exchange to Find the Best Fitting Partnership
- Booming (iO company) & Royal Philips: Creating Sustainable Partnerships
- Assembly, Eastbay & Slickdeals: A Deal Made in Heaven
- LinkConnector & Publisher Discovery: Take External Affiliate Recruitment to Unprecedented Heights
- OAK Digital Rolling Stone & FITE: Introducing Entertainment to at-Home Masses
- Rakuten Advertising, Naver & MATCHESFASHION: An Exclusive Look Into the Google of South Korea
Best Retail and E-Commerce Campaign

About Ingenious Technologies
Ingenious Technologies AG is a Berlin-based marketing technology provider that helps global brands optimise their partner marketing. Through its SaaS-based Partner Marketing Platform, the company gives the power back to brands to manage their partners directly, as well as to measure and analyse the performance of their efforts accurately – on a single platform. This unique combination is strengthened by its focus on data protection through first-party tracking and white-labelling capabilities, as well as guidance from the Customer Success team.
The Finalists Are:
- Acceleration Partners & Swarovski: Exceeding Expectations via the Affiliate Channel
- Admitad Affiliate & Allegro: Symbiosis of Creativity, Innovation and Human Communication
- Awin, LOOKFANTASTIC & UNiDAYS: Making Freshers Fantastic
- Incubeta & Laithwaites Wine: (Pub) Crawling Amazon for Laithwaite’s Success
- Rakuten Advertising, Soreto & Forever New: Referral Technology & Building Influence After Purchase
- RevLifter & Harvey Nichols: Discreetly Delivering Value
Best Social Commerce Campaign
The Finalists Are:
- Adequate & HealthLabs: From Zero to Superhero
- Awin, PcComponentes & ToroTocho: ‘Going live in 3, 2, 1…’
- Media Monks & Johnson & Johnson: #CareWithPride Influencer Campaign
- OAK Digital & Meridian Grooming: Growing Through Engaging Social Campaigns
- VizSense & Paid Workout App Launch Campaign
Best Use of Data
The Finalists Are:
- Adequate & HealthLabs: From Zero to Superhero
- Rakuten Advertising & Backcountry: Successfully Using Skai Solution (To Transfer Data From Adobe to Google)
- Upsellit & Samsung Electronics: Using Machine Learning To Provide Incremental Revenue
Best Use of Performance During COVID-19 NEW
The Finalists Are:
- APAX GROUP: Green Carpet Fashion Awards
- Awin Access: Championing Small Businesses During Lockdown
- Booming (iO company) x EDC Retail: Reaching new heights during lockdown
- CJ & Expedia Group: “Safe Travels”
- DMi Partners & Hydrow: Best Use of Performance During COVID-19
- Impact & LetsGetChecked: Supporting Travel in Testing Times
- Partnerize, Marriott International & Acceleration Partners: Responsive Reactivation During COVID-19
- Rakuten Advertising & Bonds: An O2O Journey Through a Global Pandemic Down Under
- Rakuten Advertising & FitFlop: Helping the NHS Get Back on Its Feet
- RevLifter, CJ & AT&T: Turning a Fresh Page
Best Use of Programmatic Advertising

Partnerize is the leader in partnership automation. The Partnerize platform is the only of its kind to deliver a fully integrated, comprehensive suite of discovery, recruitment, optimization, payment, brand safety and fraud prevention capabilities for marketers seeking a high transparency, scalable subsidy to alleviate pressure on their unit economics as a result of over dependence on primary sales and marketing channels. Supported by unrivaled service including the category’s only in-housing support program, with Partnerize, you’re in control of the entire partnership marketing lifecycle—all on a single platform. Partnerize has a global footprint, retaining offices in Australia, Japan, the Netherlands, New York, Philadelphia, San Francisco, Singapore, and the United Kingdom. For more information on how Partnerize helps turn your partnerships into a profit center, please visit https://partnerize.com/en.
The Finalists Are:
- Bidease & inDriver: Programmatic User Acquisition for a Ride-Hailing Service
- Incubeta & Life Style Sports: Amplifying Social Reach
REGIONAL AWARDS
Best Affiliate & Partnership Strategy - APAC
The Finalists Are:
- APAX LIVE: Shanghai Iconic Fashion Showcase AW 2021
- Commission Factory & My Muscle Chef: Eating up With the Hannashians
- Rakuten Advertising, 55Haitao & Clinique: The Beauty of Live Performance
Best Affiliate & Partnership Strategy - LATAM
The Finalists Are:
- Disney Streaming & Neo Media World
- Grupo Xcaret
- Rakuten Advertising & ShopFácil.com
- Upstream: Growing 100k Organic, First-Party Prospects in Less Than a Week
Best Affiliate & Partnership Strategy – US & Canada
The Finalists Are:
- OAK Digital & Boutique Rugs: Doubling Performance Through New Upper Funnel Partnerships
- Publishers Clearing House & Capital One Shopping: Kick off Holiday Shopping
Best Managed Affiliate Programme – APAC
The Finalists Are:
- Admitad Affiliate & AJIO: Bringing Fashion to People
- GrowthOps & Dell Affiliate Programme: An Exceptional Year of Growth.
- Impact & Booktopia: Proving the Power of Partnerships
- Partnerize & DAZN: Going Big in Japan
- Partnerize & THE ICONIC: Styling Partnership Success
- Rakuten Advertising & P.E Nation: Accelerating Through Accelerate
Best Managed Affiliate Programme – USA
The Finalists Are:
- Awin & Under Armour: ‘Protect This House’ Using Affiliate Marketing to Fill Revenue Gaps
- Gen3 Marketing, Carter’s & OshKosh B’gosh
- Honey by PayPal & PrettyLittleThing
- Impact & DMi: Transform TUSHY’s Bottom-Heavy Affiliate Program
- OAK Digital & Hairstory: Diversify the Program, Activate Premium Partnerships & Still Find Growth
Best Managed Affiliate Programme – Western Europe
The Finalists Are:
- Booming (part of iO) & Philips: Affiliate was the Largest Marketing Channel in DACH during Black Friday
- Dept Agency & G-Star: Partnerships Program Success
- Impact & TUI: Turning Turbulence Into Turbocharged
- Optimus Performance Marketing & Victorinox AG: Partnering with an Icon
- Partnerize, Dept Agency & Dokteronline: Developing a Healthy Partnership Programme
- Rakuten Advertising & Ann Summers: Affiliate Liberation
- Silverbean & HelloFresh: Market-Leading Mentality
TECHNOLOGY, TEAM AND AGENCY AWARDS
Best Affiliate Network
The Finalists Are:
- Admitad Affiliate: Nurturing Strategic Win-Win Partnerships
- AdsEmpire CPA Network with WW Direct and Smartlink
- Awin: Growth and Resilience Fuelling the Affiliate Industry
- CJ
- Kwanko
- Rakuten Advertising: Elevating Affiliate Marketing through Partner and Strategy Diversity
Best Performance Marketing Technology

Optimus-pm are an award-winning affiliate marketing agency, now part of the
gen3 family. We provide dedicated affiliate marketing management to drive
growth and sales for e-commerce businesses in the UK, across the EU and
indeed globally.
Founded in 2006, we have unrivalled experience working with networks,
publishers, and affiliate technologies to drive the best possible results for our
clients.
The Optimus-pm approach is down-to-earth, and client focused. Optimus-pm
aims to deliver the most cost-effective strategies that grow sales and meet both
the commercial and marketing objectives of our clients. 50% of our clients have
been with us for over 3 years and many have been with us since the beginning.
As part of the leading international agency, we now manage in excess of 500
clients globally, including Kwik Fit, Snapfish, Crocs, Chi Chi, Victorinox, tails.com,
Richer Sounds, CW Sellors, Serenata Flowers, Sport Shoes, Sock Shop and across
a vast range of verticals.
The Finalists Are:
- Affise
- End-to-end Partnership Automation with the Partnerize Platform
- Envolve Tech
- FMTC
- Impact Partnership Cloud
- Ingenious Technologies & Belboon: A Journey to Future-Proof Their Business
- RevLifter: Leading the Hyper-Personalization Revolution
- UpSellit: Get More Value Out of Every Visit
Best SaaS Platform

Similarweb is the official measure of the Digital World.Our online traffic data enables us to deliver an unbiased, objective view of real-world web and app performance. From executing day-to-day tactics, to building long-term digital strategies, all your decisions can now be driven by the most important data there is – reality. Our unique data science converts noisy online data into a clear signal, normalizing all digital sources into a single view. That’s why we can fairly compare sites to sites and apps to apps.10B – Digital Signals Collected Daily, 2TB Data Analysed Daily, 200 Data Scientists, 10K+ Traffic Reports Generated Daily.
The Finalists Are:
- Affise
- AffX.io & Sellergize: The Modern Solution for Smart Affiliates
- Impact.com’s Partnership Cloud™
- Partnerize Partnership Automation Platform
Performance Marketing Team of the Year

Incubeta is a team of over 560 creators, thinkers, makers and doers working across 17 offices globally to unlock business growth. Incubeta combines capabilities across the full spectrum of digital disciplines to deliver standout outcomes at every brand touchpoint, from awareness to fulfilment.
With performance marketing at its core and the unification of all specialisms, Incubeta remains at the forefront of innovation to help businesses unlock the power of digital and amplify growth.
The Finalists Are:
- Acceleration Partners: High-Performing, In-Market Experts Managing Programs Globally and Locally
- Adsterra: Social bar – Helping Our Clients to Weather the Storms of COVID-19
- Awin: Not Just Working With Your Agency, but for Your Agency
- DMi Partners: Performance Marketing Team of the Year
- Assembly & Cornerstone Brands: A True and Trusted Business Partnership
- The Rakuten Advertising Team: Building a Diverse and Inclusive Network for Our People and Partners